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STTN and Milk Supply

My 4 month old has started waking only once during the night and feeding only on one side. I am waking up engorged on one side. Will this effect milk supply as he normally wakes up 3 times? I'm worried if he goes back to waking more (when he foes into his own room) I won't have enough milk?

Re: STTN and Milk Supply

Your body has a really sensitive internal clock. That clock allows your baby's demand to train your body to make more milk when more is required (generally the daylight hours) and less when it's not (e.g. when baby sleeps through). If baby suddenly starts waking more at night, demand will quickly train your body to start making more milk at night.

Generally, the only time that sleeping through the night causes problems for milk supply is if the mom is working. Babies who sleep through tend to compensate for missed feedings at night by increasing their daytime demand somewhat- they nurse a little more often, they drain the breast more thoroughly each time. If a mom is working, she can't necessarily mimic this increase in demand using her pump. She can only take so many pump breaks per day, right? And the pump is generally not as good as the baby at emptying the breast.

So if you're working, and your baby's long nighttime sleep means that your baby's demand for daytime bottles goes up to more than you can supply, here are some things you can do:
- Wake baby more often to nurse at night, or take away sleep-extending tools (e.g. swaddling, pacifier)
- Pump after feedings when you're with baby
- Make sure the daycare is feeding baby in a breastfeeding-supportive style (appropriate amounts, paced feeding techniques)